Mower decks presently on the market are primarily designed to expel grass and leaves, known as clippings, either to the ground or to a catcher, so that they may be removed from the lawn. If the clippings are left on top of the grass they not only look unsightly, but can be damaging to a lawn by creating thatch in the turf. Alternatively, removing all of the clippings may create a more aesthetically pleasing lawn, but ultimately removes organic nutrients that may be utilized by grass and plants for future growth.
As an alternative to conventional mowers, mulching mowers can reduce expenses and decrease waste. Mulching is a process for maintaining an even soil temperature, controlling weeds, retaining water in the soil, and adding organic material and nutrients to the soil through the gradual breakdown of the mulch material. When clippings from a mower are sufficiently reduced in size to small particles, they may serve as a mulching agent, thereby reducing waste, expenses, and inefficiencies associated with conventional lawn mowing.
Past methods to improve mower deck performance have been included the use of baffles to speed up the process of a more complete discharge. These mower decks primarily discharge clippings to a farther distance to spread out the clippings more evenly. However, this process creates possible hazards when rocks, bottles, or other debris are hidden in the lawn. Moreover, these conventional mowers leave clippings that are large in size and clumped together near the chute area. This process ultimately leaves unsightly and damaging windrows, which are rows of cut grass clumped together. Additionally, many high portioned motors associated with conventional mowers expel air out from the front portion of the mower deck in an uncontrolled manner, creating dusty and uncomfortable, if not dangerous conditions for the mower operator.
Efforts have been made to convert conventional mowers that are designed to expel clippings into mulching mowers by using solid plates to close off the mower deck opening. However, this process often clogs the mower deck with debris and impedes cutting performance in adverse conditions. These types of conventional mulching mowers use rotary blades to create suction from the ground to the bottom of the blade thereby raising the grass to a vertical cutting position. This suction is achieved by the high lift wing on the end of the cutter blade as it spins. As the blade spins, a high pressure area is created above the blade that facilitates the expulsion of clippings out from the mower deck. As such, blocking the discharge inhibits this process thereby reducing the efficiency of the mower.
Given the inadequacies of the prior art mowers, it would be desirable to provide a high performance mulch deck attachment capable of reducing clippings to a manageable size without clogging the mower or creating uncomfortable driving conditions for the mower operator.